A model is encouraging people to embrace their natural body hair with a powerful video

On Wednesday, model and activist Rain Dove posted a video on Instagram that shows them shaving their entire body.

The model then proceeds to form a beard by gluing the leg, armpit, and pubic hair that they just removed onto their face.

In the clip, Dove challenges beauty standards that often pressure people who identify as women to remove their body hair.

The model is inspiring people to embrace their natural body hair, or lack thereof, no matter what society may have to say.

"Whether you're fuzzy or hairless, you shouldn't feel ugly for it," Dove says in the video. "Because this isn't about beauty. It's about freedom."

Model and activist Rain Dove is inspiring people to embrace their natural body hair, or lack thereof, despite what society may have to say.

On Wednesday, Dove posted a video on Instagram that shows them shaving their entire body. The model then proceeds to form a beard by gluing the leg, armpit, and pubic hair that they just removed onto their face.

"Whether you're fuzzy or hairless, you shouldn't feel ugly for it," Dove says in the clip. "Because this isn't about beauty. It's about freedom." The model continues: "And if you're thinking that this beard is a statement about masculinity — it's not. Beards can be feminine, too."

"When people tell you that your body hair is not 'feminine' and that you need to get rid of it to be beautiful, here's what to remember," Dove says. "We may feel that if we don't follow social constructs that we will end up alone. But there are 7.5 billion people on the planet. Odds are in your favor that someone will love you for you."

When asked about the inspiration behind this video, Dove told INSIDER that they were "teased relentlessly" as a young child for having "a lot of body hair."

"I was embarrassed to raise my hand in school when wearing a T-shirt because I knew the hair would poke out," Dove said. "[I was] called ugly, mannish, hairy, disgusting."

"Yet the 'boys' in my class applauded each other for the development of their body hair, high fiving as...chest furs popped out," the model continued. "It felt so unfair."

After receiving many messages on social media from young kids with similar experiences, Dove decided to make a video addressing this topic, especially with summer approaching — a time during which the model felt "particularly high anxiety" as a child.

On Instagram, many have praised Dove for her empowering message of acceptance. "I love this video!" one person commented on the model's post. "Everyone should have their own choice on how to rock their hair on their own body."

"Amen to that," another Instagram user wrote. "Be who the f--- you wanna be."

"So much love for you," someone else commented. "This means so much to me and so many others."

And while some might see the video and think it's "gross," Dove is unfazed. For the model, what's "actually 'gross' is how much shame people [are made to] feel for their body being in its natural state."

As Dove wrote in the caption for their video on Instagram, people who identify as women are "taught from a young age that their hair is disgusting." But body hair is functional. "Your hair is there to protect you from the sun's rays, the environment, and even bacteria that clings to the body," the model said. "Hair or not — ugly is a feeling not an aesthetic. No amount of shaving or waxing will ever create true beauty."

"As people, we didn't choose our bodies," Dove previously said during an appearance on ITV's "Loose Women" in February. "Nobody called us up when the cells were dividing and said, 'What skin color do you want? What genitals? What size do you want to be?' We came out as unique individuals and we're getting punished for something we didn't choose."

Dove, a self-described "gender capitalist" — someone who recognizes that there are different advantages and disadvantages of certain gender expressions — told INSIDER that they don't see people's bodies as divided by sexual organs or genders.

"I see bodies as machines," the model explained. "Vessels that allow us to engage with the world." Regardless of whether people keep or remove their natural body hair, it "shouldn't have anything to do with shame," Dove said. "It's all about free personal choice."

"I absolutely hope that one day we will not be shunned for our vessels or maintenance thereof," the model added. "I believe it should be our actions and intentions, not our flesh, that...set us up for judgment."

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